Manuel Pellegrini Tactics At Real Betis 2024/2025: Rebuilding For European Success – Tactical Analysis

After a 1-3 defeat at home against relegation candidate Alavés, it seemed like Real Betis had hit rock bottom for the season.

The loss saw them drop back into twelfth place in La Liga, just days after Barcelona kicked them out of the Copa del Rey with a hefty 1-5 defeat in the Olímpic.

The entire season had not gone according to plan for manager Manuel Pellegrini and his squad.

In the summer of 2024, multiple cornerstones of Betiss success over the last seasons decided to leave the club.

Juan Miranda and Guido Rodríguez, who even left for free, and other players like Ayoze, Chadi Riad, and Nabil Fékir, looked for opportunities elsewhere.

This led to a massive overhaul in the squad, especially on the defensive side, and to a relatively thin squad.

While Pellegrini and his mens start to the season looked decent enough, as soon as the UEFA Conference League group stage began, the load of games took its toll on the team, and the results dipped.

In the winter transfer window, Assane Diao and Vitor Roque also decided to leave Betis, leaving the team with even more holes to fill in the attack now.

With the signings of Cucho and Antony, the club managed to sign two very good replacements.

With star player Isco returning from injury, the team found its form again, winning their last six matches in La Liga and advancing to the quarter-final in the Conference League.

In this tactical analysis and team report, we will examine the tactical and personal changes that Manuel Pellegrini made to get his team back into shape and how they managed their surge towards the international places in La Liga and the clubs first-ever international trophy.

Manuel Pellegrini Possession-Based Beauty

Looking at Betis over the last couple of years, ever since Manuel Pellegrini took over the team in 2020, the team has been exceptionally good on the ball.

Betis is a team that actively wants the ball, plays a lot of passes and thrives in possession, something that has become a bit of a lost art in La Liga ever since the pandemic.

It all starts with their squad planning.

The club is not signing uber-athletic players who are best at running without the ball or dominating through brute force; they are signing experienced players with quality on the ball.

Every single player in the Betis squad is calm on the ball, has good to great passing ability, and has a high understanding of positional play and movement off the ball in possession, and it shows on the pitch.

Looking at their build-up play deep in their own half, Betis actively involves their goalkeeper and centre-halves in their own box.

In this situation, one fullback, Sabaly on the right, provides a lot of width, with Rodríguez on the left being more towards the inside.

Betis midfield